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About Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

I like the PDs and McDowell particularly but sadly I think he – wrongly – will be associated by the public with the Mr.A fiasco. The fact that Mr.A was reincarcerated probably will limit the damage but damage I believe has been done. McDowell’s timing on the leadership issue was incredibly inept and personally I think he is damaged goods regarding future leadership ambitions for the forseeable future. Before the Mr.A affair he was set according to private-polls referred to in Phoenix Magazine to top the poll at the next election in Dublin SE. We haven’t seen any since then but would be interesting in order to gauge damage. Having said that I hope he holds his seat. Mr.A is back behind bars and that’s the most important thing. McDowell’s critics forget that the LRC report in 1990 recommending a defence of honest mistake also called for an age of consent around 13. So it’s hardly surprising then if the report’s ‘wisdom’ wasn’t taken at face value back then – by FF and FG-led govts!

Ciaran Irvine

McDowell is an authoritarian bully over-compensating for something or other. Harney is yer standard FF gombeen parish-pump backbencher elevated way, way above her abilities. The PDs are a sham – self-proclaimed libertarian free-marketeers who have been in power for 12 of the last 17 years and who have achieved….

Ummm….

Deregulated the taxi market?

When there is a list of cartels, closed shops, restrictive practices, vested interests, and near-monopolies in every corner of the economy busily profiteering at a colossal rate, what have these guardians of “free markets” done to tackle any of it?

Well, whole-heartedly supported keeping the status quo in place; refused to do anything to attack cartels, closed shops etc; and ramped up the pork-barrel corporate welfare spending resulting in quite extraordinary levels of “waste” in State projects which by amazing coincidence always happens to end up being trousered by….private companies representing the vested interest groups.

My, what a suprise.

Isn’t it positively uncanny how FF/PD “waste” always manages to find its way to people who already have piles of dosh in some privitisation/consultancy scam. They seem to have an inability to generate “waste” that happens to benefit ordinary people or small companies though. Odd that.

Crataegus

Dublin SE is a fairly tight constituency. It wouldn’t take that much for anyone to loose their seat. Do FG take a seat? Do SF? If so whose? There has to be one FF seat, Labour were bottom of the poll last time. The Green perhaps?

This seat illustrated the problem for the rainbow coalition if FG gains it could well be at the expense of one of its likely coalition partners.

With regards PDs generally again like all small parties they hold on by a thread. It’s the support that their candidates have built up rather than the support for the party that gets them elected. Come the next election I can’t see them making overall gains, but prior to the last election we were making all sorts of dire predictions for them and they did a lot better than expected.

hurler on the Ditch

“the Republic comes 26 out of 26”

More lies about the republic…. FOR SHAME!!!

Actually Ireland came 25th. We can stand with pride and say that we have a better health system than the lithuanians….. groan…